‘Could really punish Chelsea’: Keown stunned by two Arsenal players who’ve really stepped up recently

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has hailed Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli for leading the Gunners to the top of the Premier League table.

The Highbury icon, speaking on talkSPORT, said the young Arsenal duo have become the club’s standout players.

Keown stated that, while Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko initially raised the bar this season, Saka and Martinelli have since come to the fore.

Arsenal are flying high in the Premier League and the Europa League.

Mikel Arteta’s charges remain top of the league table and are in the last 16 of the European competition.

‘Quite magnificent’

The summer signings of Jesus and Zinchenko were real statements of intent from Arsenal.

Both players hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium and helped transform the Gunners into what they are now.

However, Jesus has been struggling for goals recently, while Zinchenko has been on the sidelines.

And according to Keown, Saka and Martinelli have taken the baton.

“Martinelli and Saka are two wonderful players now,” he told talkSPORT. “They’re leading the club.

“At the start of the season it was Zinchenko and Jesus who kind of raised the bar.

“Zinchenko has been injured for some time and Jesus has fallen away with his goals, but those two young individuals are really leading them at the top of the table.

“They’re quite magnificent and if you get the ball to those two as much as possible in wide areas then they could really punish Chelsea at the weekend.”

Winning formula

Arteta really has got it spot on this season.

It took him a couple of years to build this Arsenal team. And it’s not been plain sailing, but such a rebuilding job never is.

A mix of shrewd signings, bargain gems and academy graduates, all conforming to Arteta’s high disciplinary standards, has proven a winning combination.